Scottish actor Dougray Scott is likely to be cast as poet Dylan Thomas - one of Wales' most famous exports - in a new film about his turbulent life, according to newspaper reports.

The film is to be entitled Map of Love after a collection of Thomas's poems published in 1939.

Mick Jagger is producing and shooting is due to start in January 2003 and will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the poet's death.

Dougray Scott: Intense preparation

Scott revealed plans to play the world-renowned poet during a Daily Telegraph interview at the Venice Film Festival.

Choosing a Scotsman to play an icon of Welsh culture is certain to raise eyebrows in some quarters but Scott was at pains to point out: "I've always loved Dylan Thomas's writing."

Dougray Scott is noted for his intense preparations for starring roles and is said to be busy putting on weight to portray the poet.

For the film Enigma, he learnt the fundamentals of code-breaking to play Tom Jericho, a mathematics genius at the centre of the film.

Map of Love will focus on the Thomas's marriage to the long-suffering Caitlin in 1937 until his death from alcoholism in 1953.

Cardiff-born Chris Monger, who directed Hugh Grant in The Englishman Who Went up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain, has written the script and will direct the film.

The �10m movie will be shot on locations that featured in the poet's life, including the boathouse at Laugharne where he lived and the house in Swansea where he was born in 1914.

Thomas is famous for having lived the archetypal artist's lifestyle - his fondness for alcohol is well known.

So it is no surprise that his favourite drinking haunts, Brown's Hotel at Laugharne, the Uplands Tavern in Swansea and seafront bars in Mumbles will also feature.

Thomas died in 1953 after collapsing in a New York hotel and some scenes will be shot in a Greenwich Village bar.